


Muses

by orphan_account



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, pricefield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 20:16:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4535853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Backpacking!AU]. For lennisterr on tumblr, the prompt was "I went to a museum to get some inspiration to draw and then I saw you staring at one of the paintings in awe so I drew you and then you saw my picture and I am dying of embarrassment AU".<br/>-----<br/>Chloe’s hand instinctively pressed the pencil back to the page, already another sketch of Max forming in her mind -- but both her heart and her hand stopped when Max turned around.<br/>Their eyes met.<br/>For what seemed to be an eternity, the two stared at each other.<br/>-----</p>
            </blockquote>





	Muses

 

Taking off her backpack and leaning against a banister, Chloe absent-mindedly rubbed one of her aching shoulders, watching the visitors of the Louvre, some pausing in front of the statue looming in front of them, some shuffling up the steps of the Daru staircase to the other galleries.

She shifted slightly as another large tour group squeezed their way onto the marble staircase, their tour guide gesturing broadly as he spoke in rapid fire English.

' _The Nike of Samothrace, or more commonly known as, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, is considered to be one of the most significant pieces of art from the Hellenistic period_...'

Backpack wedged in between her feet, Chloe contemplated the winged and headless statue standing majestically on its platform, the lights beneath it casting dramatic shadows on the detail of its wings and windswept robe.

Pretty, sure. But it wasn't really her kind of muse…

Chloe reached down into her backpack and pulled out her beat-down, worn Moleskine sketchbook and a small, soon-to-be nonexistent stub of a pencil. The first thing she'd come to appreciate about backpacking around Europe was the numerous times she got the chance to people-watch...which, of course, provided a  _ton_  of opportunities for drawing.

Not to mention the occasional comedic event of a pigeon shitting on a tourist.

Chloe spent a few minutes picking out faces and postures from the crowd mingling around Nike, but found herself quickly stopping and moving onto another.

_Damn. Not a choice cut today, I guess._

Just when she was about to give up and move onto another part of the Louvre, Chloe glanced up to see a girl standing in front of Nike, equipped with a backpack similar to Chloe's.

_Oooh. Another backpacker. Nice. And cute._

For a few moments, Chloe watched the girl take a few steps around Nike, one hand raised to her chin as she admired the statue; she turned enough so that Chloe could see the name sewn onto the front pocket of her backpack.

_Max._

Chloe put her pencil back to her sketchbook.

 _No, no, don't move. Okay, nice. Nice_.

Another curve, another line here…

The way Max looked at Nike - Chloe saw the admiration, the appreciation, the awe.

_She gets it. She's really...looking at it, getting it for all its worth._

Chloe's hand flitted across the page, adding more and more details amongst the lines and curves.

She glanced up in time to see Max taking an old Polaroid camera from her bag, raising it and aiming its sight at Nike - Chloe held her breath, waiting as Max adjusted her position slightly, shifting a little to get the best angle - and then came the flash and whirr of the camera, and Chloe stood there, transfixed as Max carefully took the photo and held it delicately in her hand for a moment.

 _Wow_.  _A muse taking a pic of a muse._

Chloe's hand instinctively pressed the pencil back to the page, already another sketch of Max forming in her mind - but both her heart and her hand stopped when Max turned around.

Their eyes met.

For what seemed to be an eternity, the two stared at each other.

_Oh, shit. She knows -_

Chloe tore her gaze away, heart pounding as she fumbled her pencil and sketchbook - out of the corner of her eye, she saw Max walking towards her, nimbly moving around the people hanging about on the staircase.

 _Fuck_ -

Chloe dropped her sketchbook, and of course, it fucking opened to the page with her detailed sketch of Max.

 _Fuck my entire ass_ -

Just as Chloe reached a shaking hand down to pick it up, another hand gently slid under the worn binding, lifting the tattered sketchbook up.

Chloe's eyes darted upward to see Max standing just inches away, staring at the drawing of herself, her expression blank.

_Fuck me -_

Max said slowly, "This is..."

Chloe wanted to pass out, right then and there. God, let her die here, let her descend into hell before she ever had to hear what this super cute girl had to say about her shit sketch -

"...Really incredible."

The first and only thought that came to Chloe's mind immediately blurted itself out of her mouth, in a voice a little too high and a little too nervous for her taste.

" _What?_ "

"This is really pretty," Max repeated, eyes wide in amazement. "This is...so cool!"

Straightening up, Chloe just stared back, mouth opening and closing as her brain floundered about, trying to find a response.

Thankfully, Max continued softly, delicately holding Chloe's sketchbook in her hands, "I've never had anyone draw me before…"

Chloe really needed a brain-to-mouth filter.

"Who  _wouldn't_  want to draw you?"

Chloe internally punched herself one thousand times.  _Fuck, fuck, that's creepy, that's so weird, you're fucking weird -_

Trying to recover, Chloe rambled, "I mean, you're like, really pretty and shit, and you looked pretty looking at that pretty statue, so I just, kinda started drawing you because you're pretty - "

Max looked away, blushing as she reached a hand up to brush a lock of hair back behind her ear.

"Uh, um, thank you," she stammered, handing back Chloe's sketchbook. Chloe's reaction was to numbly take the book back in her hands, her mind racing as she tried to think of something smooth and suave, something that would let her keep talking to Max so Max wouldn't think she was some creeper -

"I'm not a creeper, I swear," Chloe blurted.  _Smooth, dumbass._  "I mean, I don't, I just, I draw because - "

"Hey, hey, it's fine," Max said quickly, and she dropped her backpack to the ground before rifling through it and pulling out a journal, not unlike Chloe's. "I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

"Uh, Chloe."

"I'm Max...and I totally know that feeling where you just...gotta draw someone," Max said, and she opened her notebook - Chloe leaned in to get a better look. "Except, I guess, I take photos, instead of draw."

Max's journal was full of Polaroids of people, of places, of things - predominantly, of course, people. There was one shot of a boy curled up on the ground in a fetal position, a skateboard just on the edge of the frame; another picture of a man scowling as he ate a bowl of beans; another of a girl sitting on a pew in a church, bathed in the golden light of a nearby window.

"Woah," Chloe breathed, astounded by the sheer number of photos in Max's book.  _Damn...Girl's got a serious eye for some good shots._

"So if you're a creeper, I guess I'm like, a super creeper," Max chuckled.

Given some to recover, Chloe thought she'd do some damage control.

"Well, I think you're super cute."

Max laughed. "I think I got that when you told me I was pretty."

Damage control failed.

Gripping her sketchbook in her hands, Chloe cast her gaze onto the ground, feeling defeated.  _So much for being smooth._

Max must've noticed, because Chloe heard her say, "But...You're really pretty too, and would you mind if I got a photo of us, together?"

Taken aback, Chloe said, stunned, "Wait, me? You? Us?"

Hearing the hesitation in Chloe's voice, Max immediately looked embarrassed. "S-sorry, you don't have to, I just don't," she said, swallowing, her cheeks slightly pink, "Don't wanna forget you or the art you did."

"No, no! That's cool, that's totally cool," Chloe said hastily, shoving her sketchbook into her backpack.

Max turned and stood next to Chloe, raising her camera; Chloe threw up a peace sign just as Max snapped the photo.

"Now that's a keeper," Chloe said, watching Max delicately put the photo in between the pages of her notebook.

"It definitely is. Thank you," Max said gratefully, looking up at Chloe.

"Nah, it's nothin'. I'm glad you didn't think I'm a creeper."

"I'm glad you don't think I'm a creeper, too."

The two grinned at each other, and Chloe suddenly felt obligated to say, "You're a cool muse." Getting an idea and pulling her sketchbook out of her backpack again, Chloe opened it to the page with Max - after a moment, she cleanly tore it out and handed it to Max.

"Here, since you liked it a lot," Chloe said, but Max just took a step back, eyes wide.

"Chloe, I can't, I can't possibly take that," she protested, but Chloe pushed the paper into Max's hand.

"It's cool, just take it, hippie," Chloe insisted, and Max gave in, holding the paper in her for a brief moment - before carefully folding it and putting it inside her notebook as well.

"I...I'm, thank you," Max stuttered, but Chloe, hand rubbing at the back of her neck, just replied nonchalantly, "Really, it's nothin'."

Feeling her groove coming back, Chloe casually asked, "So, did you go check out the rest of the museum yet?"

"I haven't, no. I just got here," Max said, and she took out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. Glancing at it, Max continued, "I was going to check out the Egyptian stuff for half an hour, and then go to the Greek - "

Bursting out laughing as she put the sketchbook back in her backpack, Chloe said, "Wait, is that an itinerary?"

"Yeah, why?" Max asked, baffled.

"You're backpacking around Europe, like me, right?"

Her brow furrowed, Max responded, "Well, yeah."

"And you're doing this solo?"

"Yeah."

Grinning as she put her backpack on, Chloe said, "Then you don't need a schedule. Just live life as it is, as it comes, and as it goes."

"But - "

"Max, c'mon," Chloe said, clapping her hands on Max's shoulders. "For today. Let's hang out together, and I'll teach you how to improvise a life on the road."

Though Chloe could see the hesitation and uncertainty in the way Max bit her lip, after a moment, Max said slowly, "Okay. Just for today."

"Awesome," Chloe grinned, reaching out and grabbing Max's hand, tugging her up the staircase and past the Winged Victory.

" _Let's go."_


End file.
